Motor-cycle-railway system.



J. N. VANDEGRIFT.

MOTOR CYCLE RAILWAY SYSTEM.

ArrmoA'noy FILED MAR. 9, 1905.

Patented Oct. 12,1909.

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MOTOR GYGLE RAILWAY SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9, 1905.

936,683, Patented Oct. 12,1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. N, VANDEGRIPT. MOTOR GYGLE RAILWAY SYSTEM.

APPLIOATION mum MAR. 9. 1905.

Patented Oct. 12,1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

J. N. VANDEGRIFT. MOTOR GYGLB RAILWAY SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9, 1905.

Ptented Oct. 12,1909. 7

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JAMES N. VANDEGRIFT; 0F BEYN MAWR, PENNSYLVANIA.

MOTOR-CYCLE-RAILWAY SYSTEM.

Application filed March 9, 1905. Serial No. 349,301.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES N. VANDEGRIFT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bryn Mawr, in the county of Mont omery, State ofPennsylvania, have invente a new and useful Motor-Cycle-Railway System,of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to produce efficient high speed car andtrain service.

A further object of my invention is to obtain safety and simplicity ofmechanism.

A further object of my invention is to conweight of the car eithersingly or in trains upon central motor elements.

A further object of my invention is to approximate bicycle conditions inrailway service.

A further object of my invention is to balance a central-bearing-motorsystem.

A further object of my invention is to re duce the width they and theside bearing wheels ma be used upon an ordinary railroad track, with theaddition of a central rail only.

A further object of my invention is to bring the weight of the car uponthe tandem,

isting railway conditions.

central, self-contained motor wheels.

A further brace the operative parts of my means of propulsion withincentrally-disposed wheels bearing upon a single central rail. I

My invention further consists of novel features of construction, all aswill be hereinafter fully set forth.

xperiment-s in high speed service have demonstrated that railwayscomprising laterally-spaced rails and cars with eight or twelvesupportin' wheels with -comparatively small weig t on each wheel areunsuited for conditions of extremely high speed by reason of theimposs'ibilit of maintaining-the both rails at a, per ectly uni-v formsurface, with a resultant lateral oscillation of car body and trucks toadegree both uncomfortable and unsafe. A maximum of safety, comfort andeconomy is obtained by adapting the bicycle principle to said railwaycondltions by which a maximum of traction and speed is obtained with aminimum of "power as well as lateral oscillation of the car; the featureof the bicycle being the greater the speedthe less the lateraloscillation. This is the reverse of ex- In carrying out this idea I haveprovided a self-contained motor wheelwhich carries practically theSpecification of Letters Patent.

of themotor elements so that object of my invent-ion is toemdoubleflanges 10.

Patented (lot. 12, 1969.

entire Weight of the car, and which ,is capable of being constructed,even in the large units necessary for railway work within suffieientlateral limits so that it may be used with side bearing steadying wheelsupon the ordinary railroad track with the addition of a center rail uponeither side of which center rail the flanges of the motor wheel travel.

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a car provided with two.of. mynew trucks. Fig. 2 represents a perspective view of atruck embodying myinvention. Fig. 3 rep-' resents a vertical longitudinal through thecenter of one of my motor section wheels showing the armature and fieldbut partially wound. Fig. 4 transverse section through the center of theshaft upon which my motor. wheel is mounted showing the field coils butpartially wound. Fig. 5 represents avertical cross section through thecenter of the axle of a side bearing wheel and through a portion of thecar.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in thefigures.

The features of the car of the truck and motor claimed are claimed tionfiled by me.

ldesignates a car body having curved vestibul'es, in the form shown,mounted upon trucks 2-2. The truck wheels supporting the car consist oftwo motor wheels 33 arranged tandem to bear upon a center rail 4, whichmay be placed between the ordinary side rails 5 -5 of existing railways.The motor wheels are composed of external rotatable field elements 6mounted upon bearings 7 of fixed shafts 8 and carrying tread surfaces 9shrunk on or otherwise secured thereto.

in a copending applica- These surfaces are One face 11 of the motorwheel is separable therefrom and carries with it the brushes 12 bearingupon the commutator -13 of the armature 14,which in this .-mbodiment ofmy invention is fixed to the shaft.

Electric features which form no part of the present invention will notbe set out in detail herein.

It will be evident that the'armature might be external and rotatableabout an internal field without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

The field 6 carries pole pieces 15upon' which are wrapped windings 16upon spools construction and wheels not herein t represents a verticalprovided with r volve is secured in boxes 27 upon which the guides 28move vertically with varying pressure and consequent different springcompressions. Upon the boxes 27 rests the horizontal projections 29 fromthe top of U- shaped side frame members 30 having a horizontalintermediate brace 31. At the lower corners, that is, the bends of theU, are located guides 32 and 33 which move vertically withrespect toboxes 34 and 35 carrying-the axles 36 of the spaced side wheels 37adapted to rest upon correspondingly spaced rails 55 which may be of theordinary track construction. These wheels are preferably withoutflanges. Between the boxes 34 and 35 and the horizontal brace 31 arelocated the spiral springs 38 and 39 by which the side wheels arenormally pressed in contact with the rails. It will be evident thatother'forms of spring might be here used and that the springs thusplaced will exert a steadying influence upon the motor elements andtruck preventing excessive leaning of the car in r mndingcurves or whennot in motion. Upon the top of the horizontal brace 31 I place springs40 and 41, here shown as two in number, and spiral but which evidentlymay be of: any desired number and of a different character of spring ifrequired. These springs rest upon bases 42 and t3 and are terminated bycaps H and 45 upon the top of which rests the upper frame work of mytruck comprising preferably parabolic front and rear curved portions 46and 47 united by. intermediate double side frame members 418 and 49which bear upon the caps of the springs. These top side frame membersare united by trans- .verse braces 50 having horizontally projectedplates 51 by which the frame member and transverse braces are securedtogether.

Links 52 support the spring board 53 from' these transverse braces. Uponthis spring board are mounted preferably a plurality of ellipticalsprings 54 which support a beam carrying near its extremity the bearingsurfaces 56, against which the car body makes contact, and, at itscenter, king ring 57 Within which the king bolt from the car rests.

The motors are cooled by means of aperlures 58 in cupped projections 59.

It is evident that the motors are self contained and that they aretherefore capable of being made in large units and yet narrow enough tolie between side frames of the character herein described whose outerwheels are adapted to rest upon the spaced rails of the ordinaryexisting railroad track.-

At the same time the freedom from external dnotor elements such as aresometimes placed lupon the same axle as that of the motor wheel reducesair resistance, conduces to structural simplicity, permits the mostdirect possible application of power to a vehicle and relieves greatlyfrom torsional strain.

The operation is as follows :--The car body rests upon the king ring andbearing surfaces of the transverse beam 55 and the weight iscommunicated to the spring board through the elliptical springs 6 and tothe transverse braces by the links. These transverse braces transmitpressure to the upper side frame member which in turn bears upon thespiral springs resting on the intermediate horizontal braces 31. Thisbrings the entire weight of the car upon the U-shaped side frame memberswhich are supported upon the motor wheel shafts or axles. A smallproportion of the weight of the car is taken up through the additionalsprings and the side bearin wheels 39. It will be evident that a maximumof tractive force is obtained inasmuch as a large part of the weight ofthe car equipment lies within the motor itself and the weight of the caris borne almost exclusively by these motors.

It will be evident that various changes may be made by those skilled inthe art which will come within the scope of my invention, and I do nottherefore desire to be limited in every instance to the exactconstruction herein shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosccure'by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the character described, a transverse beam, a sidetruck frame, aplurality of springs in series between the beam and frameand a plurality of self-contained motors carrying the truck frame.

2. In a device of the character described, a plurality of self containedelectrical motors the external rotatable members of which form bearingwheels arranged in tandem, in combination with side bearing wheelshaving bearing below the center of gravity of the system and having al'Jearing in substantially the same plane as the motor.

JAMES N. VANDTCGRLFI.

Witnesses WM. CANER \Vmnnnsnru.

C. D. MGVAY.

